"It's our view that if you want intellectual properties to be permanent, then you run the risk in that circumstance of having consumers fall out of love with that franchise. [Activision] obviously views the world differently," Zelnick explained (via GameSpot).

"That's never been the case with one of ours," he said. "Ours do better each time. Our view is it's hard to make permanent intellectual properties if you annualise it, with the exception of sports titles.

"So far that's proven to be the case. IP that is annualised eventually seems to hit the wall and we don't want our IP to hit the wall."

Grand Theft Auto 4 sales are said to account for a fifth of the series's lifetime sales, while upcoming release Grand Theft Auto 5 is tipped to sell 14 million copies at launch.